Communia News

7th Communia Workshop (1-2 Feb. 2010, Luxemburg)

Luca Leschiutta — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:46:29 +0100

Digital Policies: the Public Domain and Alternative Compensation Systems

Under the title "Digital Policies: the Public Domain and Alternative Compensation Systems", the 7th COMMUNIA Workshop will take place at the National Library of Luxemburg in Luxemburg, on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd February 2010.

Presentations slides, abstracts, policy recommendations, as well as for some speakers transcripts or papers, will be available from this website download section immediately after the workshop. A programme document available here collects abstracts and initial position statements submitted by chairpersons and speakers before the workshop.

[11jan10]

The Public Domain Manifesto

Bernardo Parrella — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:51:56 +0100

Developed within the COMMUNIA network during the last two years, we are pleased to announce the official launch of The Public Domain Manifesto. The document outlines a series of general principles (opening with: the Public Domain is the rule, copyright protection is the exception), then addresses various issues relevant to today’s cultural landscape finally provides some recommendations aimed at protecting the Public Domain and ensuring that it can continue to function in a meaningful way. While these recommendations are applicable across the spectrum of copyright, they are of particular relevance to education, cultural heritage and scientific research.

The Public Domain as aspired to in our Manifesto has a broad range to include cultural material that can be used without restriction, in the absence of copyright protection; shared material released under alternative licensing options such as Creative Commons licenses; and a variety of fair use and "open access" policies. These sources need to be actively maintained in order for society to reap the full benefit of our shared knowledge and culture, even more so with the wider penetration of digital technologies. It is therefore our hope that The Public Domain Manifesto could be embrace by the civil society at large as a tool to maintain and promote this precious common goods for citizens across the world and for future generations to come.

The document is available in several languages and includes a list of initial signers (both individuals and organizations). Everyone is encouraged to sign it, to follow our Facebook page and... to spread the word (here is our PDF Press Release)![24jan10]

UK government datasets now freely available for re-use

Bernardo Parrella — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:57:43 +0100

«Making public data available for re-use is about increasing accountability and transparency and letting people create new, innovative ways of using it. Government data should be a public resource. By releasing it, we can unlock new ideas for delivering public services, help communities and society work better, and let talented entrepreneurs and engineers create new businesses and services.» With these words Sir Tim Berners-Lee announced today the launch of Data.gov.uk, a collection of over 2,500 UK government datasets - now freely available to the public for consultation and re-use.

The Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN, a COMMUNIA member) worked closely with the Cabinet Office team to make Data.gov.uk a reality - the repository is even using CKAN, the OKFN open source registry of open data. More details - including a selection of the great media coverage about the launch - are available on this OKFN page. [21jan10]

Public Domain Day 2010 in Poland

Bernardo Parrella — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:21:41 +0100

The second edition of the Public Domain Day celebration was organized at Warsaw's National Library by the Coalition for Open Education, a group of non-governmental organizations and institutions working in the fields of education, science and culture and promote open access to knowledge. Attended by representatives of NGOs, libraries, cultural institutions and lawyers, the debate focused on the current state of the resource-sharing culture in Poland.

During the event, members of the Coalition also hosted a multimedia presentation on the public domain, held a workshop on cultural resource sharing led by Dr. Alek Tarkowski (Creative Commons) and Jaroslaw Lipszyc (Modern Poland Foundation). Piotr Waglowski introduced a legal analysis of problems related to the public domain.

The most important concern emerging seems to be the lack of public domain protection, thus creating a ripple effect with difficulties and problems at each step. In Poland the whole issue is poorly understood and supported, starting with its very legislation: the translator of the Berne Convention (to which Poland is a signatory) used the official term of ‘nation public ownership’. [11jan10]

Happy Public Domain Day!

Bernardo Parrella — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:56:49 +0100

While New Year's Day is an occasion for great celebrations worldwide, we shouldn't forget another special reason to celebrate January 1st: Public Domain Day! In several countries, this day marks the expiration of copyright protection terms on creative works produced by authors who died several decades earlier (1939, for this 01/01/2010). Therefore such works enter the Public Domain, and their content is no longer owned or controlled by anyone but it rather becomes available for anyone to freely use for any purpose. In other words, on each year's January 1st an impressive wealth of knowledge, information and beauty becomes freely available to humankind.

To celebrate this occasion, COMMUNIA is promoting a new website devoted to Public Domain Day: http://www.publicdomainday.org. This project aims at increasing the public awareness of this celebration and educating about the Public Domain concept and its potentialities for spreading culture and knowledge worldwide. The website is particularly focused on this Public Domain Day 2010, providing useful resources (Countries' copyright terms, Public Domain calculators, related sites and databases, etc.) and a detailed list of authors and artists who died in 1939 and now enter the Public Domain (only in certain countries, since copyright regulations differ in the various countries and often require a lawyer opinion). Among the over 600 names included in that list, at least in selected jurisdictions, there are Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis; William Butler Yeats, one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature; Alphonse Maria Mucha, a renowned Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist.

Unfortunately in the US there is little to celebrate because no published works will be entering the public domain until 2019. But the Center for the Study of Public Domain at Duke University (a COMMUNIA member) published a very informative website to mark the event. Other initiatives to celebrate Public Domain Day are planned in Poland and in Switzerland. And here is a COMMUNIA Press Release (in PDF format) for further distribution. [31dec09]

The Public Domain Works registry

Bernardo Parrella — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:08:31 +0100

New Year's Day is also known as Public Domain Day, marking the entrance in the public domain of creative works produced by authors who died some decades before. Depending on each country copyright term legislation, on 1. January an impressive wealth of knowledge, information and beauty is made freely available to the humankind as a whole.

To raise public awareness about such important date, the upcoming 2010 Public Domain Day will be celebrated with several initiatives directly organized by COMMUNIA members, including the further development of the Public Domain Works database - an open registry of artistic works that are in the public domain. [29dec09]

Sprixi helps to find images online...

Bernardo Parrella — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:51:06 +0100

...that are free and in the public domain for quick use. [28dec09]

"Where Does My Money Go?"

Bernardo Parrella — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:55:48 +0100

Online tools to analyse and visualise UK public spending. [15dec09]

How to - hopefully - rescue public domain from paywalls (in USA)

Bernardo Parrella — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:12:00 +0100

Carl Malamud - US technologist, author, and public domain advocate - details an often overlooked problem with content stored in the US National Archives (that is, public domain material) which should be free and easy to access for anybody (online and offline).

Instead, says Malamud: "If you want to watch videos from the National Archives today, they try to talk you into buying a DVD from the official government partner, Amazon.Com. The government web site has a 320x240 2 minute preview, using an old Microsoft codec, and all the search results encourage you to purchase from 'our partner, Amazon.Com.'"

In announcing his testimony on December 16 before the House Oversight Committee on the topic "History Museum or Records Access Agency? Defining and Fulfilling the Mission of the National Archives and Records Administration," he further explains: [7dec09]

Charter for innovation, creativity and access to knowledge

Bernardo Parrella — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:29:37 +0100

We are in the midst of a revolution in the way that knowledge and culture are created, accessed and transformed. Citizens, artists and consumers are no longer powerless and isolated in the face of the content production and distribution industries: now individuals across many different spheres collaborate, participate and decide." This is the opening of the this broad document addressing citizens’ and artists’ human rights in the digital age and released after the recent Free Culture Forum held in Barcelona, Spain.

The event gathered a "broad coalition from over 20 countries, of citizens, users, consumers, organizations, artists, hackers, members of the free culture movement, economists, lawyers, teachers, students, researchers, scientists, activists, workers, unemployed, entrepreneurs, creators…" debating the role of government in access to knowledge and the open creation and distribution of art and culture.

Along with a video on YouTube detailing the Charter, the document is currently available in English, Castellano, and Portuguese. Here are a few more excerpts closely related to the COMMUNIA activities and goals: [1dec09]